


Nine's First Companion

by tomatopudding



Category: Animorphs - Katherine A. Applegate, Doctor Who
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-06-21
Updated: 2011-06-21
Packaged: 2017-10-20 15:12:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/214099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tomatopudding/pseuds/tomatopudding





	1. Cloudy With a Chance of Rain

It was too cold for thermals this time of year. Tobias had found that out the hard way the first time he had come to London. Since then, Tobias has learned and stored away knowledge about many countries around the world.

He had spent the past few months in the aftermath of the Yeerk War spreading Rachel’s ashes, taking her to all of the exotic places she had confessed to wanting to visit on those calm evenings when the two of them would go flying. He had been to so many places, from Cairo to Venice, Paris to Beijing, and more. Now, he was back in London, having just scattered the final ashes in Brazil, getting ready to spend some time on the ground.

Tobias had secretly been working on morphing clothing more substantial than spandex ever since he had gotten his human body back and had long ago mastered the art. As long as he was wearing the item when he had last demorphed into his hawk form, he could morph back into them. So, Tobias emerged from a local store he had technically never entered wearing jeans, a plain black t-shirt, trainers, and a swanky leather jacket that he had recently bought straight from the designer in Paris, an impulse buy that put quite a dent in the money he’d been saving since before the War.

To Tobias, London was a chance to let himself go. Newly seventeen, he was already old enough to dive into the England club scene. The clubs, the good ones at least, didn’t open until after dark, so Tobias decided to take the time, in hour and a half increments of course, to wander the streets and shops of downtown.

It was gray and and a chill pervaded the already crisp air, causing Tobias to pull the leather jacket all the more tightly around his admittedly too-thin midriff. The lights of the London Eye were already lit, despite the early hour. Tobias loved to wander the streets of London, breathing the familiar yet exotic air.

He stopped for a moment on the bridge over the Thames, the wind of double-decker busses at his back, the London Eye spinning slowly before him. Next to the Eye, a small blue light suddenly appeared, making Tobias’ heart skip a beat. The last time he had seen mysterious lights in the sky, not much good came from it.

The flashing blue light grew steadily closer and larger, revealing itself to be attached to the top of a tall, blue box. The came closer, quickly growing large in Tobias’ view. The teen ducked with a yelp as the flying box passed directly over his head, bringing with it a strange whirring sound that pulsed evenly.

Even as he set off after it, Tobias wondered at his own sanity. Obviously, this was some sort of alien vessel and the last thing Tobias wanted was to get involved with another bunch of extraterrestrials. Yet, here he was, chasing after the damned thing. Tobias shook his head sadly. Curse his curiosity.

He eventually found the ship, parked neatly in a small ally behind an apartment building, and stopped short. As he had seen before, it was blue and had a light at the top. The thing that surprised Tobias the most was the english writing at the top: Police Public Call Box. Of all the alien species Tobias had come in contact with over the years, he had never seen one that used english.

The door of the Police Box swung open and Tobias held his breath, toes curling in anticipation, as from within the box stepped…a man?

He was taller than Tobias, though not by much, with close-cropped hair and protruding ears. His large mouth immediately spread into a toothy grin as he caught sight of Tobias.

‘Hello,’ the man said jovially, his accent British but not quite the same as the usual London drawl, ‘Sorry about almost running you over back there, I’m a bit new to this body. I’m the Doctor, by the way.’

‘Tobias,’ the teen answered cautiously.

‘American!’ the Doctor exclaimed, ‘Fantastic!’

Tobias, on the other hand, wasn’t as enthusiastic, ‘Look, I know you’re an alien – Doctor, was it? – just give me some sort of sign that you mean no harm and I’ll get out of your hair.’

The Doctor seemed a bit taken aback by Tobias’ cold demeanor and sharp words

‘Have I encountered you before?’ the Doctor asked, ‘I don’t quite remember all of my previous companions yet.’

Tobias sighed slightly, ‘No, I’m just a bit on edge. We’ve only just emerged from an open extraterrestrial war back where I’m from, so I’m over-cautious. Excuse my rudeness.’

‘Never mind that, you can never be too cautious,’ the Doctor replied, ‘A war, you say? With whom?’

‘Yeerks,’ Tobias hissed, much like an Andalite would, ‘The cruelest species known to man.

‘Yeerks,’ the Doctor repeated, as if tasking the name on his tongue, ‘Yes, I’ve heard of them, but I assure you,’ his eyes sparked darkly, ‘they aren’t even close to the cruelest species out there. I thought that the Andalites were on the Yeerks’ case?’

‘They were,’ Tobias confirmed, ‘but the almighty Andalites didn’t feel that they should bother with such an unevolved species as the humans. It fell to us, to the Animorphs,’ he let out a humorless chuckle, ‘We were just kids, but we had to save the world. We lost so many.’

‘I’ve been there,’ the Doctor told him, turning introspective, ‘I had to sacrifice my people, yet I still couldn’t save my world. I’m the last of my kind.’

‘In a sense, so am I,’ Tobias murmured, unconsciously stepping closer, ‘What is “your kind” anyway?’

The Doctor hesitated for a moment, seeming to contemplate how much he wanted to tell Tobias before speaking.

‘I’m a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey. We were in a battle with a nasty race called the Daleks. To make a long story short, nobody won.’

‘I’m sorry,’ Tobias said sincerely, then his voice became suspicious, ‘So, what did you mean when you said you weren’t used to that body?’

If the Time Lords were another race of infesters like the Yeerks…

‘Ah ah ah,’ the Doctor chided, his grin returning, ‘It’s my turn to ask a question. How are you the last of your kind? If I’m not mistaken, there are still humans out there.’

‘Technically, I’m the only one of my kind,’ Tobias told him, shifting his weight to a more relaxed position. He was feeling strangely comfortable talking to the man – no, Time Lord – before him, ‘My father was the Andalite prince Elfangor Sirinal Shamtul and my mother was a human named Loren.’

‘A child of two worlds,’ the Doctor mused, ‘Kind of poetic, that. Why don’t you come with me, Tobias? I’ll show you that there’s good out there in the universe.

‘I’ve had enough aliens to last me a lifetime, thanks,’ Tobias replied.

The Doctor’s grin dimmed slightly and he seemed crest-fallen, ‘Well, alright, if you’re sure.’

Tobias stood with his hands in his pockets, watching as the Doctor stepped into his Police Box. The door was shut for only a moment before it opened again and the Doctor’s head popped back out.

‘Did I mention that I travel through time?’

Tobias had a sudden vision of Rachel, tall and willowy with shining gold hair and sparkling blue eyes, reaching towards him from the Police Box entrance.

With a grin that rivaled the Doctor’s, Tobias ran towards the beckoning door.


	2. New Beginnings

As soon as Tobias stepped into the blue box, his mouth dropped open in surprise.

‘It’s bigger on the inside,’ he murmured.

‘You like my girl, then! She’s called a TARDIS.’ The Doctor explained fondly, ‘stands for Time and Relative Dimensions in Space. All Time Lords have one. Had one.’

‘Does it always look like an old-fashioned police box?’ Tobias asked with a smirk.

‘It was my choice,’ the Doctor defended, ‘Plus, the circuits got stuck and I can’t change it anymore.’

‘You never answered my question,’ Tobias said, changing the subject as he craned his head upwards, ‘about you not being used to your body.’

‘Before I answer that, and I will,’ the Doctor assured, ‘I think it’s time that I change these clothes,’ he looked down at the ruffled shirt and velvet coat his was wearing in disgust.

An alarm bell went off in Tobias’ head. As he had grown, Tobias’ Andalite side had developed and had made him more acutely aware to the passage of time, like Ax had been. In all the excitement, this “spidey sense”, as Tobias liked to call it, had failed to give him warning that he was reaching his two hour limit.

‘Oh no,’ Tobias moaned, thinking aloud, ‘I have to demorph or I’ll be trapped again.’

‘You can morph?’

‘This is a morph,’ Tobias explained hastily, ‘I became a _nothlit_ , someone stuck in morph, early on in the war, but the Elemist did some strange time thing and have me back my morphing ability while also letting me acquire my own human DNA. I’ve been living as a hawk for years and, if I don’t change back now, I’ll never be able to be one again!’

Despite the blind panic in Tobias’ voice, the Doctor merely laughed, ‘Don’t you worry about that. I travelled with an Andalite once, back when I was old. The TARDIS fixed him up. Smart girl, my TARDIS. By now, she’s recognized your human brain and made this body your home base, as it were. Gotten rid of that pesky time limit too, I imagine. Hang tight, little man, I’ll go change out of these clothes and explain some things.’

Tobias, however, had stopped listening.

Human again? A morph-capable human?

Tobias morphed to the red-tailed hawk body he had learned to call his own over the long years. It had been more than two hours since he had morphed to human, yet he had become his hawk self once more.

«No time limit.» Tobias murmured in awed, open thought-speech, more to himself than anything else.

He tried to morph Hork-Bajir, his second favorite body, but the changes didn’t occur. «Human as home base. Maybe…»

Tobias changed back to human. He removed his expensive leather jacket, just in case – he hadn’t morphed from human to something larger before because it had been impossible – and closed his eyes, concentrating on the Hork-Bajir form.

Every morph was different, and this one began with his head. His human neck elongated as his face was pushing outwards into the snake-like head of a Hork-Bajir. Tobias felt, rather than saw, the Doctor re-enter the room just as the final blades emerged from his Hork-Bajir elbows.

‘Nice,’ the Doctor commented, grinning again.

Tobias gave him the Hork-Bajir version of a grin and spoke in the Hork-Bajir’s gravelly voice, ‘Thanks.’

Once Tobias had morphed back to human – demorphed, he told himself – the Doctor held out his arms, presenting himself.

‘Well?’

The old-fashioned clothes had been traded for dark trousers, a burgundy v-neck jumper, smart leather shoes, and a black leather jacket not unlike Tobias’ own.

‘Simple, yet classy,’ Tobias complimented.

‘Fantastic!’ the Doctor said with another grin, ‘Now, let’s get on our way and I’ll tell you what you want to know. What’s our destination?’

‘It can be anywhere?’ Tobias asked.

‘Anywhere and anywhen!’

Tobias smiled, ‘Surprise me.’

‘My pleasure!’

 

 

 

A/N: I apologize for the convenient plot device that is the TARDIS eliminating his time limit.


	3. Making History of the Future

It was over so quickly that Tobias didn’t feel like they had moved at all. Yet, at the same time, the trip had been long enough for the Doctor to explain about Time Lord regeneration.

‘Now, the Ellemist, as you call him, is quite a legend on Gallifrey. He’s one of the first Time Lords, now the only one except for me. He’s somehow found a way to stay alive for so long, even though he’s only on his second or third incarnation. He’s kind of remarkable,’ the Doctor finished, then he frowned, ‘I don’t know why I’m telling you all of this, really.’

‘People like to tell me their problems,’ Tobias said with a shrug, ‘I used to be too polite and quiet to stop them. Then, I got used to it. Always figured I’d end up as a therapist or something.’

Tobias thought back to all of the nights he had spent in his meadow, listening to Ax talk about his home world or Rachel spill her hidden fears and desires, or any of the other Animorphs who came to bare their souls to him.

‘You miss them,’ the Doctor said softly.

‘Yeah,’ Tobias admitted, ‘But they have their own lives. Most of them, anyway.’

‘I’ll get the full story out of you one day,’ the Doctor told him teasingly, ‘but, for now, it’s time to have a look around.’

Tobias snapped back to the present, ‘Where are we, anyway?’

‘The real question is when are we,’ the Doctor corrected with what Tobias was quickly beginning to call his trademark grin.

‘Alright,’ Tobias conceded with a laugh, ‘Where and when are we?’

‘Some time in the forty-eight century, 4752 I believe, in a place you would know as Ireland, but is now called Karadine, ever since the English took over two decades ago. Let me tell you, the Irish weren’t too happy about that.’

Tobias chuckled, ‘I bet.’

‘So,‘ the Doctor said with another grin, clapping his hands together,‘ Shall we take a look?’

The two travelers exited the TARDIS and Tobias couldn’t stop his mouth from falling open. It was like something out of the Jetsons. They were in the air, hundreds of feet up. The streets were like ribbons floating beside the blocky buildings. Though, why there were streets when all of the vehicles were about forty feet above them, he would never know. Tobias made his way to the edge of the road, wondering if it was real tarmac and if it created thermals, craning his neck over the edge where the buildings stretched downwards into the gloom.

Tobias didn’t even realize that he had almost fallen over the edge until he noticed the flat plane of the Doctor’s chest pressed against his back, one warm arm draped across Tobias’ narrow waist. Tobias, in turn, had unconsciously gripped the Doctor’s arm where the Time Lord’s jacket had ridden up.

‘Thanks,’ Tobias breathed, his heart pounding as he tried to control the flight response his hawk-self was projecting.

‘Of course, little man,’ the Doctor replied, pulling him back from the edge.

Tobias could briefly feel the beating of a heart on either side of his spine before the Doctor let go, hand lingering for a moment on Tobias’ hip - making sure he was steady - before it, too, was withdrawn.

Tobias’ heart was still pounding and his mind was buzzing from prolonged contact with the Doctor. the whole process of acquiring morphs made Andalites, or half-Andalites as the case may be, vaguely touch-telepathic. When Tobias had touched the Doctor’s skin, he had unconsciously began to acquire the Time Lord, but instead of receiving the Doctor’s DNA, Tobias had been bombarded with a collage of memories; eight different faces flashing at him in quick succession followed by loads of raw information, only a few bits of which sticking in his mind: a stalk of celery, an absurdly long scarf, something called a Jelly Baby.

‘Why’s the city so high up?’ Tobias asked as his mind finally began to clear.

‘We’re up in the air because the ground is dead,’ the Doctor explained, ‘the planet’s been sucked dry. You stupid apes and your greed,’ he scoffed.

‘That’s terrible,’ Tobias murmured. He couldn’t even imagine was Cassie’s response to that would be.

‘In a few years time, an attack will by a species called the Carlions will occur.’

‘What are Carlions?’ Tobias asked.

‘Nasty buggers. They’re slightly,’ the Doctor made groping motions with his hands, ‘pudgy, but surprisingly fast. Draw their power from a sort of jewel imbedded in their foreheads. Their attack will force Karadine to branch out and help colonize the Universe, nobody will want to be caught unawares by an alien species again. It happens too many times as it is.’

As if on cue, the Doctor’s final words were followed by a sound very similar to that of a Yeerk Dracon beam filled the air. Tobias was immediately on alert, scanning the skies and wishing for his hawk eyes.

‘Ah,’ the Doctor said, deflating a little, ‘We seem to be a few years later that I planned.’

‘Meaning?’ Tobias asked, his eyes still flicking around warily.

‘Meaning,’ the Doctor replied, ‘that the Carlions are attacking.’


	4. Meet the General

It was easy to find the army headquarters, despite Tobias’ constant complaining.

‘Why do we have to do this?’ he asked poutingly, ‘I’ve been in battle for the greater part of my life and I have no intention of going into battle again!’

‘Fine,’ the Doctor replied, dodging one of the many frantic people who now filled the upper streets, ‘Let the human race die.’

Tobias sighed and followed the Doctor, ‘Why do they have to be in trouble on my watch?’ he mumbled.

The Doctor shot Tobias a glance and made his way to the army compound. The entrance was blocked by a tall fence topped with barbed wire and guarded by two soldiers, their faces covered by metallic helmets. the Doctor didn’t seem phased by the beam guns they cradled and walked directly to the guards.

‘Halt,’ one of the soldiers commanded, though it was hard to tell which one of them said it because of the helmets, ‘Identify yourself.’

The Doctor held up one finger of his left hand, the right digging into his jacket pocket. Tobias’ eyes widened slightly when the Doctor’s arm went in up to his elbow. A few moments later, the Doctor’s hand emerged holding a leather wallet-like object. He flipped it open and displayed what looked like a blank piece of paper.

‘I’m the Doctor, and this is my assistant Tobias. We were sent from London.’

One of the guards’ reflective sliver face plates turned down towards the paper before nodding briefly.

‘We need to see whomever is in charge.’

The two soldiers looked at each other and were silent for a moment, presumably talking to somebody or each other through a comm unit in their helmets. The soldier who hadn’t looked at the paper opened a flap on the wrist strap he wore and pressed a few buttons, causing part of the fence to flicker and disappear.

‘This way,’ he said, his voice deeper than the other who had spoken.

The Doctor tucked his wallet thing back int his pocket and followed the guard into the compound, Tobias on his heels.

‘Doctor,’ Tobias whispered, ‘that paper, it looked blank.’

‘It’s called Psychic Paper,’ the Doctor explained, ‘Makes people see what they want to see.’

‘Cool.’

The guard led them into a building complex and through a security checkpoint, where it took the Doctor close to ten minutes to empty out his seemingly endless pockets before the scanner then another ten minutes to put everything away afterwards. The soldier then took them to a set of steel doors where a different soldier waited. This one wore the same Star Wars-esque body armor, but the face plate of his helmet was open, revealing a clean-shaven face made up of sharp angles and a pair of cold, gray eyes.

The soldier who had led them snapped to attention, a hand rising to a formal salute.

‘At ease, soldier,’ the unmasked man said with a distinct Irish accent, ‘Return to your post.’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘You’ve come to see the General,’ the Irishman said stiffly, eyeing the Doctor and Tobias, sizing them up.

‘If that’s who’s in charge,’ the Doctor said.

‘I’m afraid the General is unavailable to see anybody currently,’ the Irish soldier said, ‘In case you haven’t noticed, there’s a national crisis going on out there.’

‘We’ve come to help,’ the Doctor told him, brows furrowing in frustration.

‘We have all the help we need.’

Tobias felt an animalistic growl start in his throat - polar bear, he though absently, or maybe the velociraptor he still felt despite the fact that he no longer had the morph.

‘Tobias,’ the Doctor placated, placing a hand on the morpher’s shoulder, who shrugged it off.

‘Sir,’ the soldier said warningly and without the respect that the title implied, ‘I’m sorry, but-’

Tobias sneered and rolled his eyes, ‘Right.’

‘Attack me, go ahead,’ the soldier growled, ‘I’d love an excuse to lock you up.’

Tobias felt the urge to morph to polar bear and was about to do just that, when the steel doors slid open and the Doctor spun what looked like a metal tube deftly between his fingers. the Irish soldier drew his weapon and pointed it at the Doctor.

‘How did you do that?’

The Doctor held up the tube with a grin, ‘Sonic screwdriver,’ he explained, ‘Opens any lock.’

‘I could arrest you for that.’

‘So do it,’ the Doctor said, his grin fading into a more serious expression, ‘Then tell your general that you arrested a Code 9.’

The soldier’s eyes widened and, in one swift movement, he holstered his gun and snapped to attention.

‘I didn’t want to have to use that,’ the Doctor sighed, ‘but you leave me no choice. Now take me to the General, Lieutenant...’

‘Sergeant,’ the soldier supplied, ‘Sergeant Parker Johnston.’

‘Sergeant Johnston,’ the Doctor repeated, ‘the General?’

‘Of course, sir,’ Johnston replied, throwing up a salute. He pressed his finger to his ear, ‘General, Code 9.’

He must have received an affirmative reply because the Irishman gave them a nod and led them through the door the Doctor had opened. They walked down the dim hallway to a pair of shining doors. Johnston pressed his hand against a panel next to the doors and they slid open with a beep.

‘Restricted area,’ Johnston explained as they entered what appeared to be a simple elevator.

Instead of being numbered, however, the buttons had seemingly random letters. johnston pressed the button labeled ‘R’. The doors closed and the lift began to move, though Tobias couldn’t tell in which direction.

When the doors eventually opened, they revealed a dim corridor so similar to the one they had previously gone down that it almost seemed like they hadn’t gone anywhere. At the end of this hallway was an old-fashioned wooden door, though the atmosphere of it was broken by another high tech panel.

Johnston pressed a button on the panel and the screen sprang to life. The picture showed a young man with close-cropped blonde hair dressed in a suit.

‘Code 9 to see the General,’ Johnston told him.

‘I have a name,’ the Doctor mumbled, ‘stupid ape.’

Tobias snickered. Johnston and the blonde ignored the two time travelers as the Sergeant rattled off a list of access codes and identification numbers. When the Irishman finished, the blonde man gave a nod and the screen flickered off.

‘This is where I leave you,’ Sergeant Johnston told them as the door swung open,’ Goodbye Doctor. Maybe I’ll see you on the battlefield.’ Another salute and he disappeared down the hallway.

The blonde man from the screen was standing in the doorway. He led them through a small front chamber with a tiny metal desk and through to a larger office. Tobias could see a wooden desk and a high-backed leather chair turned away from them.

‘General,’ the blonde said, ‘Code 9.’

‘Thank you Cooper,’ came a female voice from the chair.

The blonde man, Cooper, nodded even though the General couldn’t see it and retreated to the forward chamber.

‘So,’ the female voice continued, ‘a Code 9, then? You’re legendary, but I’ve never actually heard one called in.’

Unlike the others they had spoken to, the General’s accent was purely American. If the Doctor was surprised by this, he didn’t show it.

‘There’s a first time for everything,’ the Doctor said, ‘And what better time than an alien invasion.’

‘So it is aliens,’ the General sighed.

‘The government has known about aliens since it absorbed the Torchwood Institute years ago,’ the Doctor replied, ‘You know,’ he continued, ‘we might be more likely to help you if we could see your face.’

The General let out a tinkling laugh, ‘Very true.’

The chair spun around to face them and Tobias had to stop his mouth from popping open. the American woman sitting in the chair was the spitting image of Rachel.


	5. Back to Battle

‘General,’ the Doctor greeted with a grin, ‘I’m the Doctor and this is my companion Tobias.

‘Your companion doesn’t look too good,’ the General commented, glancing at Tobias’ pallid complexion.

The Doctor glanced over, worry shining in his eyes. Tobias tore his shocked gaze away from the Rachel look-alike to meet the Doctor’s worried one.

‘I’m alright,’ Tobias said, answering the silent question in the Doctor’s eyes.

The Time Lord gave a nod and returned his attention to the matter at hand.

‘Ma’am,’ he said in a respectful yet commanding tone, bringing the General’s attention back to him, ‘I know for a fact that Karadine has been communicating with the Carlions for a few months now, trying to negotiate a peace treaty, but, recently, you lost and now they’re coming.’

The General’s features hardened, reminding Tobias even more of who he had lost, ‘You’ve been informed, Doctor.’

‘Indeed. I also know for a fact that they will be landing an attack on the planet’s face on the eastern border of this town, so you may want to get your troops together. Now, usually, I don’t like to interfere in your business, but this is a special case.’

‘So,’ the General said with a slight smile, ‘the stories about you were not exaggerated, then.’

‘I rarely exaggerate,’ the Doctor told her.

‘I’m willing to fight on the front line,’ Tobias said suddenly, interrupting the banter before it could even get started.

‘You have army experience?’ the General asked with surprise.

The young morpher smiled grimly, his eyes sparking, ‘You could say that.’

The General kept his gaze for a moment longer, her crystalline blue eyes seeming to bore a hole straight to Tobias’ soul.

Finally, she nodded, ‘Very well, Mister...?’

‘No Mister,’ Tobias said, ‘Just Tobias.’

‘Very well, Tobias. You will be provided with armor and a weapon.’

‘That won’t be necessary, general,’ Tobias told her, ‘I have other means of attack.’

The soldier’s smile turned to a confused frown, ‘If you say so. For you then, Doctor?’

‘I don’t fight,’ the Doctor replied.

Just then, the phone rang shrilly. The General excused herself to answer it, once more turning her back on the two travelers.

‘So, now you’re willing to fight,’ the Doctor commented quietly, ‘What changed your mind?’

‘The General,’ Tobias murmured back, ‘She reminds me of one of the original Animorphs, Rachel.’

‘You love her,’ the Doctor stated.

‘Yeah,’ Tobias admitted.

‘No better thing to fight for than love,’ the Time Lord said, ‘If you have her, why’d you come with me?’

Tobias’ fists clenched at his sides, eyes burning, ‘She was killed in the final battle, six months before I met you.’

‘So you fight for the memory,’ the Doctor said, placing a hand comfortingly on Tobias’ shoulder.

The half-Andalite nodded slightly, sighing at the warm weight of the Doctor’s finger.

‘Gentlemen,’ the General interrupted softly, ‘My soldiers are prepared for deployment, if you would care to join us.’

They followed the General to the back of the complex, where they were joined by Sergeant Johnston as well as a large group of soldiers. They were loaded onto two open-sided flying crafts, holding on tightly to the handles hanging above their heads. The flight was fairly smooth until they descended to the barren, rocky terrain of the planet’s surface where a few choice bumps would have sent Tobias sprawling had the Doctor not been standing directly behind him.

‘You fight with the front line?’ Tobias queried the General after one such bump.

‘It runs in my blood,’ the General said with a smile, ‘My great grandmother was once thrust into a war and it brought out the fight in her. I’m named after her actually.’

Tobias’ eyes widened slightly. Could it be that the General...no. It was impossible. He was saved from his confusing though process by the transport craft making a bumpy landing. the soldiers filed out, respectfully saluting their superior officer as they passed, then again when she led Tobias to the front line. The Doctor gave his companion a final squeeze on the shoulder, but stayed on the shuttle.

‘So, Tobias,’ the General said conversationally when they were in position, adjusting her armor, ‘Show me this so-called other means of attack that you have.’

Tobias smiled, ‘Sure.’

So, he thought, dangerous. Hork-Bajir. No, dangerous but fast. Ah, perfect. Tobias closed his eyes and concentrated on the acquired Andalite DNA - Ax’s DNA, his uncle’s DNA - that he knew was floating in his bloodstream. For a moment, nothing happened, and then the changes began.

The first thing to change were his clothes. When he first began to experiment with morphing while still wearing clothing, he had ruined his fair share of shirts before finally figuring it out. Now, it seemed almost a natural part of the morphing process for his clothing to tighten and meld into his skin, simultaneously becoming the blue-tan Andalite fur.

Two forelegs burst from Tobias’ hips as his bottom half elongated behind him, legs becoming thinner with a delicate hoof at the end of each. the forelegs moved lower, growing as they went and catching his body just as he lost his balance.

His shoulders grew slightly broader and his waist thickened considerably as the muscles bulked up. At the same time, two extra fingers sprouted from his hand, thin and dainty.

His face was next to change, his mouth closing up like a zipper, his nose flattening and elongating until it was only three vertical slits. his eyes grew larger and almond-shaped, turning a bluish-green color. Two protrusions burst from the top of his head, becoming stalks topped with another pair of eyes.

A tail sprouted out behind him, long enough to arch over his head safely. The last thing to emerge was the lethal, scythe-like blade at the end of his tail. The transformation was complete.

The General let out a low, appreciative whistle, ‘What the hell are you?’

«Andalite.» Tobias replied. It was strangely comforting to be using thought speech again. Using a mouth was harder work than he remembered. «If you think this is good, I’ll have to show you my Hork-Bajir some time.»

‘I don’t know what a Hork-thingy is,’ the General laughed, ‘but that sounds like a plan.’

‘General,’ said one of the nearby soldiers, eyeing Tobias warily, ‘We’ve just received word that the alien craft has entered our atmosphere. Troops have begun to appear and are headed this way.’

‘Thank you, private,’ the General said. She pressed a button on the side of her helmet and he voice was magnified, ‘Weapons at the ready!’

A couple hundred beam guns rose to attention, along with the same amount of close combat weapons. The General, herself, favored a sword-type weapon with a small pistil strapped to her belt. Tobias arched his tail, ready to strike at any moment.’

«Say, General.» Tobias thought-spoke, «Before we go into battle, would you mind telling me your name?»

‘Sure,’ she replied, ‘It’s McClo, Rachel McClo.’

If Tobias had currently had a mouth, he would have grinned.

«Alright, Rachel. Let’s do it!»


	6. In the Aftermath

Tobias didn’t remember much from the fight itself. The last full memory he had before slipping into the all too familiar trance of battle was of the disturbingly huminoid forms of the Carlions before the attack came. The Carlions were fast, just as the Doctor had said, seeming to float above the ground rather than walk on it. The army’s guns had little to no effect on the alien creatures, so it mostly fell to Tobias and the other close-combat warriors to take the brunt of the attack.

The Carlions might be fast, but they were no match for the speed of an Andalite tail. Tobias’ tail blade was soon covered in the viscous purple fluid that passed for Carlion blood. It was strange for Tobias not to have the voices of the other Animorphs in his head, shouting updates and giving instructions, but he did has part, thought-speech whipping out almost as fast as his tail.

When the battle was done, they were tired and sweaty and covered with blood, but they were victorious. Tobias jerked back to his senses and automatically began to take inventory. He had a large gash across his chest, still oozing, and his tail blade was stained and dripping. General McClo had her fair share of cuts as well, despite her armor. She approached him, breathing heavily.

‘You saved me a few times back there,’ she told him with a grin.

«It’s a habit of mine to protect my senior officers.» Tobias replied, bowing his head.

His mind, however, was elsewhere in his past. He was remembering the old days, before he had felt alien blood on his talons, before he had walked through that construction site with Rachel and the others. His mind had been there often throughout the war.

«No use dwelling on what can’t be changed.» Tobias murmured in open thought-speech, more to himself than anything else.

‘What do you mean?’ General McClo asked casually.

Tobias gave a slight, eyes-only Andalite smile. «Nothing.»

‘Tobias!’

The Doctor’s voice, calling from across the barren, blood-stained landscape made them both look up. Tobias tried demorphing to hawk before remembering that the TARDIS had made him human again. Once he was human, however, Tobias felt trapped and he suddenly resented the TARDIS and the Doctor for taking away the form that had been his body for so long. Ignoring the fatigue that came from fighting and morphing, Tobias panicked and quickly morphed to red-tailed hawk.

‘Tobias?‘ the Doctor’s joy at seeing him unharmed faded to confusion.

«I’m sorry.» Tobias said hurriedly, «I have to go. I need to fly. I need...I’ll be back.»

Tobias fluttered ungracefully into the air.

‘When?’

The younger man ignored his companion’s query and began to gain altitude, flapping madly, straining himself but loving the pain. The Doctor continued to call after him, but Tobias ignored the Time Lord and kept on flying.

It was like being back to before the Doctor had whisked him away but after the war, flying around with no purpose, catching thermals for the sheer joy of it. The only difference was the fact that, in this future, there were no mice, rats, or rabbits; no food for the red-tailed hawk. He could only last for so long before his body began to cry for sustenance.

Tobias returned to the battleground. The bodies had been cleared away, human and Carlion alike, but many of the stones were still splattered with stains. The Doctor was waiting there for him with a sandwich and a smile.

«You’ve been watching me.» Tobias stated as he landed.

‘You had any doubt?’ the Doctor asked, his eyes trained on Tobias’ twisted, morphing form.

Once the American was human again, he took the sandwich from the Doctor’s hands and bit into it hungrily. ‘Thanks.’

‘Did you enjoy your vacation? If you run off every time we get into a bind, you’re going to get tired of it very quickly.’

Tobias felt his cheeks color slightly, not from embarrassment, but from nervousness.

‘You have bad news,’ the Doctor said matter-of-factly, his trademark grin nowhere in sight.

‘I suppose you could call it bad,’ Tobias admitted, rubbing the back of his neck, ‘I can’t do this.’

‘Do what?’

‘This traveling thing,’ Tobias told him, sitting down on a nearby, unblemished boulder, ‘I need, I don’t know, I need consistency in my life.’

‘I can be a constant,’ the Doctor said softly, sitting beside the younger man.

‘The fact that you regenerate doesn’t make you constant,’ Tobias laughed.

‘Neither does your morphing,’ the Doctor said, nudging Tobias’ shoulder with his own.

‘It does for me,’ Tobias said with a smile.

‘So, let’s be constants together.’

Tobias sighed, ‘Doctor, I would love to do that, but you’re the kind of guy who attracts trouble and danger, two things I’ve had enough of in my life.’

‘You’re old for your age, little man,’ the Doctor said with a sigh to match his companion’s.

‘I had to be.’

‘Alright, I can take you home.’

‘Not home,’ Tobias said, a smile beginning to show on his lips.

‘You have a particular time and place in mind?’

‘Yup. Just need to make a little pit stop first.’


	7. A New Home

The TARDIS materialized with as much noise as usual, drawing the attention of everyone on the ship’s bridge. A blonde girl used this distraction to duck the swipe of a polar bear’s paw.

‘What the-’

«What’s going on?»

A mixture of both spoken and thought voice erupted, tripping over each other in confusion. The TARDIS door swung open and Tobias stepped out, face set.

‘Tobias?’ the blonde girl whispered.

‘Come on!’

She didn’t need to be told twice. The TARDIS finished dematerializing mere moments before the Yeerk ship exploded.

Inside the TARDIS, an explosion of a different and less violent nature was occurring. This explosion was a culmination of years of flirting and unresolved sexual tension. Even when the two teenagers finally broke apart, Rachel refused to let go.

‘What happened?’ Rachel asked, studying Tobias intently, ‘How did you get to me? Does Jake know you’re here? Don’t you have to demorph?’

Tobias laughed, ‘Slow down, Rach, I’ll explain everything. First, I want to introduce you to someone. This is the Doctor.’

Tobias pointed towards the TARDIS control column where the Time Lord stood, grinning that grin of his, a peculiar sparkle in his eyes.

‘What?’ Tobias questioned, matching the Doctor’s grin.

The Doctor just shook his head, ‘You two catch up, little man. I’m off to check on something.’

The Doctor twirled his sonic screwdriver between two fingers and disappeared down one of the TARDIS’s myriad of dark corridors, leaving the teens alone.

‘Little man?’ Rachel asked with a grin of her own.

‘Xena,’ Tobias countered.

They both laughed.

‘So, what’s the deal, Tobias?’ Rachel asked again.

‘The war ended and you died,’ Tobias told her softly, squeezing her arm comfortingly, ‘I spread you ashes around the world, all those different places you wanted to go. The Doctor and I sort of ran into each other, well,’ he laughed, ‘he almost ran me over with the TARDIS. That’s what this is, it travels through time and space. The Doctor is a Time Lord, some kind of alien, but that’s not important really. The important part is, we came back to save you.’

Rachel seemed to be in shock, a slight frown on her face, ‘What’s the catch?’

‘You can never go back to your own time.’

The Doctor’s voice seemed to break Rachel from her trance, ‘What?’

The Time Lord smiled softly and sadly at the young blonde woman, ‘A new life, Rachel Berenson. Hopefully a better one.’

‘As long as I’m with you, Tobias,’ Rachel said.

‘Since when were you such a sap?’ Tobias queried with a touch of humor.

‘When and where, little man?’ the Doctor asked, striding to the controls.

‘4661,’ Tobias replied, ‘Ireland.’

The half-Andalite could see the Time Lord doing the math in his head, his features hardening.

‘Tobias,’ he warned.

‘Trust me,’ Tobias said, letting go of Rachel for the first time since their reunion in order to walk over and place a hand on the Doctor’s arm and murmur softly, ‘General Rachel McClo is my great-granddaughter.’

‘You don’t know that,’ the Doctor replied, eyes boring into Tobias’s.

‘Doctor.’

The Time Lord kept their intense gaze for another moment before he sighed. Turning from his companion, the Doctor threw a few switches and pressed some buttons on the control console. ‘Hold on!’

A few moments later, the shuddering that accompanied the TARDIS’s movement ceased. Tobias walked back over to Rachel and held out his hand, which she readily took.

‘Ready?’ he asked, other hand on the TARDIS door.

‘As ready as I’ll ever be.’

‘Tobias, wait,’ the Doctor called out, stopping the two in their tracks, ‘Are you sure you two don’t want to come? We can always come back here. I’m thinking 21st century London.’

Tobias smiled softly, ‘Goodbye, Doctor, it’s been fantastic knowing you.’

The Time Lord watched sadly as a chapter of his long life walked out the TARDIS door. He continued watching the door, even after it had closed. Finally, he gave a sigh and settled at the TARDIS controls.


End file.
